SLIM, Harry

Harry Slim was a pre-war regular soldier with the Coldstream Guards and was probably recalled to the Colours from the Reserve in August 1914. He joined the 3rd Battalion which was stationed at Aldershot in the British Expeditionary Force which crossed the Channel to France on the 13th August and then moved forward to Mons. On the 23rd they made contact with units of the German army and its size was such that retreat was essential. The Guards had reached Landrecies when German units caught them during the night of the 24th. There were over a hundred casualties in the confused fighting but the Germans were halted temporarily. Those killed in action on the 25th August included Private Harry Slim, the first Halesowen man, and probably the first Black Country man, to be killed in action. He was 28 years old and is buried at Landrecies Communal Cemetery (B 10) and commemorated on the Blackheath and Halesowen Memorials.